Method of manufacturing a knit stocking



p 15, 1959 J. w. LEDWELL- 2,903,872

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A KNIT s'rocxmc 1N VEN TOR. 7 James WLedwe/l United States Patent IVIETHOD OF MANUFACTURING A KNIT STOCKING Application August 13, 1958, Serial No. 754,810

3 Claims. (Cl. 66-187) The present invention relates to knitted hosiery, and more particularly to a relatively inexpensive stocking of the circular knit type, and to the method of its manufacture.

It is an acknowledged fact in the hosiery industry that one of the most expensive and generally unsatisfactory operations in the manufacture of circular knit hosiery has heretofore been the closing of the toe portion of each stocking. The almost universal practice in this regard has been to knit the stocking in its complete form, but to terminate the circular knitting after the toe portion has been formed, thus leaving the toe opening to be closed in another separate operation, called looping, after the stocking has been taken from the knitting machine. In the so-called looping operation, the knitted loops of one-half of a knitted course adjacent the opening have been manually and individually placed, one by one, upon the small, fine, projecting points on the dial of a looping machine, and then the knitted loops of the second half of the course have been doubled back and similarly placed manually upon the individual points of the dial in paired relationship with the loops of the first half of the course. The dial of the looping machine has revolved slowly and, in so moving, has carried the stocking impaled thereon past a pair of knife blades that have been carefully adjusted so as to trim or cut the knitted course next adjacent that course whose loops have been placed upon the projecting points of the dial. During this trimming operation it has commonly happened that certain of the paired loops on the projecting points have not been held down firmly, with the result that one or more of the paired loops has been inadvertently cut, thus producing a dropped stitch and an unsatisfactory stocking. Further difficulties have also been experienced in looping machines in the operations that take place in the machine following the trimming step just referred to. The slightest misadjustment or defect in the needles and hooks which serve to pass a looping thread through the knitted loops that have been impaled upon the points of the dial, will likewise produce dropped stitches. Sirn ilarly, a defective stocking will result if the operator initially fails properly to pair the loops of the same knitted course upon the points of the dial of the looping machine. Since this pairing of loops necessarily has been done manually, it will be appreciated that the work has been extremely tedious and has required a very considerable degree of skill and training on the part of r the operators of the looping machines. Nearly every sizable hosiery producer has been required to arrange training programs in order to obtain workers sufficiently skilled to operate looping machines, but for the most part these training programs have been expensive and not completely satisfactory.

In addition to the difiiculties encountered in producing satisfactory first grade stockings on looping machines, and in addition to the diificulty of obtaining or training skilled workers for the operation of such machines, mainof the stitches.

ing upon points or the like.

, Patented Sept. 15, 1959 tenance of looping machines has been expensive and the capital outlay necessary to provide the number of machines required to produce a sizable production of stockings at a profitable rate has been extremely high. Hosiery manufacturers who produce more than one kind of stocking must maintain and operate looping machines having dials especially provided for each kind of stocking produced. That is, for coarse stockings such as those worn by men having, say, twelve knitted loops per inch in each knitted course, the producer heretofore has been required to own and operate looping machines having dials provided with twelve projecting points per inch. Similarly, for fine gauge stockings of the type worn by women having, for example, forty knitted loops per inch in each knitted course, the manufacturer has been required to own and operate looping machines having dials provided with'forty points per inch. The purchase and maintenance of this variety of looping machines has been very expensive and the factory space occupied by such a grouping of machines has also added materially to the total cost of the looping operations.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a new stocking of the circular knit type, and a method of manufacturing the same, wherein all need for the use of the expensive and troublesome looping machines referred to above, is eliminated.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new stocking and its method of manufaggre, wherein the stocking, in its presently preferred form, is produced in a manner to provide a transversely extending opening across the toe portion thereof having opposite edges defined by freely extending loops of knitted courses, and the opening is progressively closed by joining together the loops of one edge to the loops of the other edge with a single, multiple-thread, butt-type searn having at least twice as many stitches per inch as there are lo0ps per inch so that each of the knitted loops along the edge is caught by at least two of the stitches. In this connection, a seam of the kind just stated having 50 to stitches per inch is normally used in the practice of the invention so that the number of stitches inany given length of seam will far exceed the number of loops in that length, each loop thus being caught by two or more The opening, in the presently preferred form of the stocking, extends along what might be considered to be the normal looper line of the stocking, but the stocking is not subjected to any looping operationin the sense that that term has heretofore been known. The operation by which the opening in the present stocking is closed, on the contrary, is more inthe nature of a sewing operation, without the need of impaling the stock- The seaming operation, furthermore, does not closely resemble any transverse sewing operation, of which I am aware, that has ever been done in closing the toe of a stocking prior to the present invention. The transverse sewing of the toes of stockings has heretofore been attempted, but such efforts have never been successful and a fully satisfactory transversely seamed stocking has never heretofore been produced. The prior efforts have always produced a bulky, gross, unsightly seam which was uncomfortable on the foot, particularly when the pressure of the shoe pressed against the seam. Such prior efforts at transverse seaming of the toesof stockings were haphazard operations wherein the threads of the seam encompassed a substantial bulk of the material of the stocking and the threads passed through the knitted loops of the stocking in a random manner, catching some loops and missing others, with the result that runs in the stocking were always about to develop. In contrast, the present stocking is closed by a very fine, flat, butt-type seam which'avoids all bulky appearance and is perfectly comfortable to the wearer. Furthermore,

ployed for carryingout the knitting operation.

following the trimming.

the threads of the seam traverse every knitted loop alongside the seam, with two or more stitches passing through every loop so that each loop is caught and securely an- ,chored, thus, ivin avery stron closure which in normal use will not produce runs in the stocking.

In accordance with the present method the stocking is seamed, in the manner hereinafter explained, either ,across the top of the toe or across the underside of the toe, depending upon the type of knitting machine .em-

Any of the appropriate well known kinds of knitting machines maybe used to knit the stocking, the body, the foot and the toe portions being knitted so as to provide a transverse opening extending across the toe portion. The margins of the transversely extending opening are then trimmed by cutting so as to provide the opening with fresh opposite edges defined by freely extending'loops of knitted-courses, and the opening is progressively closed by joining the loops of one edge portion to the loops of the other edge portion with a multiple-thread seam, as stated above. The joining of the edges, that is tosay, the seaming, preferably is carried out immediately In passing at least two of the stitches of the seam through each of the knitted loops along the opposite edges of the opening, those residual fragments of the trimmed yarn that remain immediately adjacent the loops are entrapped by the stitches and, in

effect, are largely or partially covered by the stitches,

invention will be apparent from the following description of the new stocking and its method of manufacture, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a stocking made in accordance with the present invention, showing the leg,

foot and toe portions of the stocking, and showing the seam which closes the toe portion as being located across the top of the toe portion along what would normally ;be considered the looping line;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, but showing the seam as being located across the underside of the toe portion;

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged and in some respects schematic view of a lineal portion of the overlapped opposite edges of the opening in the toe portion of the stocking at the time the seam is applied thereto to close the op ng; and

Fig. 4 is another greatly enlarged and schematic View of the same lineal portion of the opposite edges of the opening after the seam has been completed and the fabric of the stocking hasbeen turned to its normal position with respect to the seam.

In the manufacture of the present stocking in accordance with my new method, the leg, foot and toe portions of the stocking, respectively represented by the numerals 10, 11 and 12 in Fig. l, are knit in any suitable well known manner on a circular knitting machine. At the time the knitting operation is finished, the toe portion 12 is left open transversely across the toe, with the opening being located either across the top of the toe portion, as indicated by the line 13 in Fig. 1, or across the underside of the toe portion, as indicated by the line 13a in Fig. 2, the lines 13 and 13a being what might be considered the normal looping lines of the two stockings illustrated. The edges of the opening, of course, are preferably provided with a run-off of material which may be provided in any of the ways well known in the industry in order to prevent unraveling of the stocking prior to the time when the opening is closed.

The unfinished, open-toe stocking unit is then removed 51.01 the knitting machine and its toe portion is laid flat so that the material on one side of the opening lies atrandom upon the material of the other side of the 4 opening, with the knitted courses of one side substantially parallel to the courses of the other side but not necessarily precisely parallel thereto. With the toe portion in this position its opening is ready to be closed in the manner now to be described.

The run-off and, if desired, a few of the last knitted courses along the opposite edges of the opening, are trimmed off so as to clean or freshen the opening and cause the opposite edges of the opening to be defined by freely extending knitted loops of the knitted material along the margins of the opening, as shown in Fig. 3. The trimming operation need not be carried out along a line parallel to any particular knitted course. Indeed, inasmuch as the toe portion of the stocking, as just explained, is merely laid out flat so that the material on one side of the toe opening lies at random upon the material of the other side, with the courses only substantially and not necessarily precisely parallel to each other, it will be understood that the trimming operation will as often as not involve cutting through one or more courses. This, however, involves no difliculty in the practice of the present invention. On the contrary, the fact that the courses on one side of the opening need not be aligned with those on the other side avoids all need for course-aligning apparatus and adds to the speed with which the toes of stockings and socks may be closed in the practice of the present invention. The trimming, as well as the seaming operation about to be described, may be carried out, for example, on a machine of the type M-4D-45 presently being manufactured and mark eted by the Merrow Machine Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, or on a machine of the type 246SV12 presently manufactured and sold by Singer Sewing Machine Company. One of the advantages of using a machine of these types is that it will progressively trim immediately ahead of the progressive seaming, as preferred in the practice of the present invention. Thus, the edges of the opening in the stocking do not have an opportunity to become unraveled before they are caught by the threads of the seam. The relative positions of the freely extending and overlying knitted loops of the trimmed edges of the opening are illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Thus, the numerals 14 designate the freely extending knitted loops of the selvageless knitted material on one side of the opening and the numerals 15 designate the freely extending knitted loops of the material on the other side of the opening, with one set of the loops lying on the other set ready to be linked together by a seam.

Immediately following the trimming operation just described, the opening in the toe portion 12 of the stock- 'ing is closed by a fine, multi-thread, flat, butt-type, two needle seam while the knitted loops 15 are lying upon the knitted loops 14 in the relative positions shown in Fig. 3. This seam, which may also be produced upon the type M-4D-45 Merrow machine or the Singer machine referred to above, is illustrated as a three-thread seam and in practice is preferably comprised of 50 to stitches per inch, its form being shown schematically in Fig. 3. In applying the seam in accordance with the present invention, the knitted loops 14 and 15 are joined together by the stitches of the seam as illustrated, there being fewer loops per inch than there are stitches per inch. Each loop 14 and its corresponding loop 15 has at least two stitches of the seam passed therethrough in the practice of the present invention, and it may be desirable to pass three or four or more stitches through each knitted loop when a stronger seam is desired. In Fig. 3, merely by way of illustration, four such stitches are shown to be passed through each loop 14 and 15. The three thread, fiat, butt-type seam which I prefer at the present time to use in this operation comprises a first thread 16 which is looped back and forth along the seam area and, as the stitching progresses, this thread 16 is caught and traversed by the two needle threads 17 and 18 as they are passed back and forth throughthe pairs of knitted loops 14 and 15. As seen in Fig. 3, the two needle threads 17 and 18 pass downwardly over and inside one leg 16a of a loop of the thread 16, then under and through a super imposed pair of loops 14 and 15, then upwardly and over both legs 16b and 160 of an earlier loop of the thread 16, thence againthrough the knitted loops 14 and 15 and through the first mentioned loop of the thread 16, of which the length 16d may be considered to be the other leg. This interlinking of the threads forms a strong and secure seam in which every knitted loop 14 is securely tied to a corresponding knitted loop 15 on the other side of the opening in the toe portion of the stocking, thereby firmly closing the opening.

During the trimming and seaming steps just explained, certain residual fragments of the yarn that have been trimmed away from the loops 14 and 15 may remain immediately adjacent the loops. In Fig. 3 these residual fragments are shown schematically by broken lines and are designated by the numeral 19. Those of the fragments that do not fall away from the immediate area of the loops 14 and 15 need not be brushed or combed away in order to make a neat seam. On the contrary, it has been found that the remaining fragments are entrapped by the stitches and, in effect, are largely or partially covered by the stitches to an extent which renders them unnoticeable. This avoids the bearded appearance that has been one of the highly undesirable characteristics of products produced by the prior efforts of others to close stockings by seaming. The bearded appearance is avoided in the present stocking and method even though the stocking may be knit of relatively coarse natural fibers such as cotton or Wool.

During the trimming and seaming of the stocking, the rows of loops 14 and 15 are preferably fed progressively past the trimming and seaming stations progressively to accomplish the trimming and at the same time to progressively make the seam. During this operation the fabric may be fed toward the trimming and seaming stations at a slower rate than it is withdrawn therefrom so as to stretch the fabric laterally. This opens the loops 14 and 15 laterally, thereby insuring that at least two stitches of the seam will be passed through each loop. It also prevents puckering of the seam, gives a more thorough elimination of the bearded effect referred to above, and avoids bunching of the fabric at the ends of the seam, thus avoiding the formation of dog cars at the ends of the seam. In carrying out the operation on the Merrow machine referred to above, for example, these highly desirable results may be accomplished by setting the adjustment for the fabric withdrawal mechanism at a speed about twice, or somewhat greater than twice the speed of the adjustment for the mechanism which feeds the fabric to the trimmer and the needles. By tending to feed the relaxed fabric to the trimming and seaming stations slower than it is withdrawn, the consequent tensioning of the fabric at the time the seam is completed causes the seam to lie in a slight curve when the fabric is again relaxed. This curve corresponds to the curve of the portion of the foot against which the seam will lie when the stocking is worn, and the slight curve in the seam furthermore is of assistance in the boarding of the stocking.

After the transverse opening in the toe portion of the stocking has been closed in the manner just explained, the toe portion is unfolded or opened to move the knitted loops 14 and 15 to the relative positions shown schematically in Fig. 4. This may be done, for example, by turning the stocking inside out so that the thread 16 will, in fact, be disposed inside the stocking where it will not be seen during normal use of the stocking. In any event, during this opening or unfolding of the toe portion of the stocking, the knitted loops 14, each of which will have been caught two or more times by the threads 17 and 18, are in effect pivoted within the seam and about the center-line of the seam, into abutting or opposed relationship with respect to the knitted loops 15, thereby producing the finished, flat, butt-type seam or joint relationship illustrated in Fig. 4.

The advantages of the present stocking and its method of manufacture are many, but one of the most remarkable advantages lies in the economy with which stockings for men, women and children may be produced in accordance with the present invention. It has been found, for example, that an inexperienced person can be trained to utilize the features of the present invention in the production of stockings for as little as $80, whereas the cost of training a like person to operate a looping machine of the kind heretofore thought to be necessary often runs as high as $500. More importantly, it has been found that trained persons can produce stockings three to four times as fast when employing the features of this invention instead of using the conventional looping processes. These and other advantages of the present invention, it is believed, will very likely cause the present invention to become an exceedingly important one in the hosiery manufacturing art.

While two forms of the improved stocking have been shown and described, with certain variations, in connection with the explanation of one method of producing the stocking, it will be understood that both the hosiery and the method may be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of manufacturing a knit stocking, comprising the steps of knitting the leg, the foot and the toe portions of said stocking so as to provide a transversely extending opening in said toe portion, laying said toe portion in a substantially fiat position with the knitted material of one side of the opening lying upon the material of the other side of the opening with the courses of the knitted material of one side of the opening in approximate parallel alignment with the corresponding courses of the material of the other side of the opening, then cutting the margins of the opening so as to provide the opening with opposite edges defined by freely extending knitted loops of the knitted material, and closing the opening by joining the loops of one edge thereof to the loops of the other edge with a seam having at least twice as many stitches per inch as there are loops per inch in each edge of said opening, while catching each of said loops with at least two of said stitches.

2. The method of manufacturing a knit stocking, comprising the steps of knitting the leg, the foot and toe portions of said stocking so as to provide a transversely extending opening in said toe portion, laying said toe portion in a substantially fiat position with the knitted material of one side of the opening laying upon the material of the other side of the opening with the courses of the knitted material of one side of the opening in approximate parallel alignment with the corresponding courses of the material of the other side of the opening, then cutting the margins of the opening so as to provide the opening with fresh selvageless opposite edges defined by freely extending knitted loops of the knitted material, closing the opening by joining the loops of one edge thereof to the loops of the other edge with a seam of stitches wherein each of said loops is caught by at least two of said stitches, then unfolding the toe portion of said stocking by pivoting the caught loops within the stitches and about the longitudinal line of the seam.

3. The method of manufacturing a knit stocking, comprising the steps of knitting the leg, the foot and toe portions of said stocking so as to provide a transversely extending opening in said toe portion, laying the knitted material of one side of the opening upon the material of the other side of the opening with the courses of the knitted material of one side of the opening in approximate parallel alignment with the corresponding courses of the material of the other side of the opening, then References .Cited thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENT-S Scott Oct. 20, 1914 Bosworth June 19, 1923 De Spain May 23, 1939 Kaplan Aug. 15, 1950 Sanson Nov. 11, 1952 Getaz Apr. 9, 1957 'Bley Feb. 3, 1959 Dedication 2,903,872.James W. LedweZZ, High Point, NC. METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A KNIT STOCKING. Patent dated Sept. 15, 1959. Dedication filed Dec. 4:, 1963, by the assignee, Fw'ank D. Dellong, J9".

Hereby dedicates to the public the entire term of said patent subsequent to November 15, 1963.

[Ofiicz'al Gazette Febmm-y 18, 1.964.] 

